Change of Seasons
by jaded river hussie
Summary: SEQUEL TO "Shake the Glitter Off." Every relationship has a honeymoon period and the honeymoon must come to an end sooner or later. At least Drake and Mindy have love—or something like it—to keep them strong over the months and years ahead.
1. All That Glitters

**Title: **Change of Seasons

**Rating:** overall T: for language and adult situations

**Pairing: **Drake/Mindy

**Spoilers:** General series spoilers.

**Summary: **Sequel to "Shake the Glitter Off." Every relationship has a honeymoon period and the honeymoon must come to an end sooner or later. At least Drake and Mindy have love—or something like it—to keep them strong over the months and years ahead.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters or locations (unless otherwise noted) or songs referenced; title and intro lyrics taken from the Sweet Thing song "Change of Seasons" (which you may know from the title sequence and various parts of one my favorite films in recent years, Easy A).

**Note:** Again, so much thanks to all the readers & reviewers of "Shake the Glitter Off." I still don't understand the drug that is Drindy or how I became addicted.

* * *

><p>'<em>Cause our love ain't easy<em>

_It changes with seasons_

_Yeah, where we're going I don't know_

_Ohh, so baby, won't you let it go_

_(Don't you worry, won't you let it go?_

_Baby, don't worry, just let it go, let it go)_

The beginning of the New Year brings an enhanced sense of hope and anxiety for Mindy Crenshaw and Drake Parker. This year they are going to become parents, this year their child will be born, this year is the beginning of the rest of their lives. Reality hasn't slapped them in the face yet.

Mindy is wearing her pregnancy well. She glows, in part due to her pregnancy, in part due to how insanely happy she feels being with Drake. There are times when she doesn't understand how she can be so delighted during this upheaval of her life. It goes against every five and ten-year plan she's ever drafted and yet she is caring less and less by the day. Her brain and her heart are growing in discord with one another; there are moments when she worries that she might lose herself in the whirlwind of emotions.

Drake is spending more and more time at her apartment, more nights, than he does at his parents' house; if he could, he would spend every moment, waking or otherwise, with her. There are mornings when he wakes up, before she does, and he wonders if this is actually real; he's afraid that one day he's going to wake up and this will all turn out to be some elaborate, fantastic and unbearably vivid dream. He knows lust and this isn't it…well, it is but it's not all that it is. There's no way that this is not love that he's feeling. If by chance that it's not love, he doesn't want to know. It has to be more—_it has to_. He sees the way that Mindy looks at him, ardent fire and emotions, and over all these years he can't recall ever seeing her look at Josh the exact same way (but, as he reminds himself, he was never paying that much attention before last year). If she asked, he would give her everything. Part of him hates that he's becoming such a fucking sap and that Mindy Crenshaw is the cause. And part of him does not give a damn. He is so screwed—and he loves it. He loves her.

_He loves her_.

They haven't even officially been a couple for a month but it just makes sense for Mindy to give him a key to her apartment, to clear out a drawer for some of his clothes, and make a little space for his toiletries in the bathroom.

Drake starts recording his new album for the concert series, which means that he spends long days in L.A. at the studio. There were already numerous meetings for him to attend. There are more and more nights that he sneaks into her apartment when Mindy's already asleep and he quietly slips into her bed, scooting close to her. Always, instinctively, she snuggles closer to him; sometimes she stirs ever so slightly, blinking at him, her eyes unfocused, a small smile gracing her lips when she recognizes him and the warmth of his body, before falling back asleep.

Mindy's next ultrasound is a couple days away. After dinner, they're flipping through apartment guides and real estate magazines on the sofa, Mindy's legs draped over Drake's lap. They are both unaware of their mutual nagging fear due to the comfort and ease with which they have become a couple.

"I can't wait to find out what we're having," Drake says excitedly, folding down the corner of a page.

"You already know that we're having a baby," she says, not looking up.

"You know what I mean. I want to know if we should start thinking about names for a boy or a girl and what colors to use for the nursery when we move."

Mindy lifts her head, an eyebrow raised. "Oh. Drake, I decided that I don't want to know until the baby's born. Besides, there's no need to assign gender roles and their prescribed stereotypes to our child before it's even born.

"Okay, well, then, I won't tell you."

She focuses back down at the listing of amenities. "Of course you won't. You can't tell me if you don't know yourself. Oh, and we will use neutral and soothing colors when we decorate the nursery."

"What?"

She looks up at him again; she knows that he's not questioning her about interior design. "I don't want either of us to find out if we're having a boy or a girl until he or she makes its entrance into the world."

"Why not? That's not fair."

"Drake, if you find out, what are you going to do?" She doesn't wait for him to answer. "You're going to tell your family. Including you, five people will know. Then you'll probably mention it to your band and everyone else you cross paths with at Spin City. It'll get back to me Drake, probably accidentally but nevertheless, someone will let it slip and then I'll know and I don't want to. Not yet."

"What if I promise not to tell anybody?"

"No."

"Mindy," he starts with a pout.

"I'm not going to change my mind."

He's heard her use this determined matter-of-fact tone with Josh numerous times in the past and he knows that there's no use trying to argue his case. She is not going to let him win. If anything, she will break down any argument he sets forth and point out every flaw and weakness he provides to support his stand.

He kind of wishes that he could hate her still. Or at least get in a good insult or two. Stupid heart. Stupid baby. (He doesn't mean either.)

Drake grumbles, acquiescing. He continues pouting, giving her the silent treatment for the next hour, responding with non-committal grunts at every apartment she shows him. After the fourth time, she rolls her eyes and lets out a frustrated sigh, swinging her legs off of his lap.

"That's mature, Drake," she says, tossing the apartment guide onto the coffee table. "Resorting to juvenile antics just because you're not getting your way?"

"Maybe it's because I don't want us to fight."

Well, she can't be irritated with him over _that_.

Her shoulders sag but Mindy is emphatic, "We're going to fight. _All_ couples fight—not just us. Couples fight, and then they work through their problems and make up." After a second, she adds, "Or they don't and they break up." She doesn't add that sometimes they still find their way back to one another. However, Drake should know that; he's seen her and Josh get back together enough times to know that a break up doesn't necessarily mean it's the end of a relationship.

He points out what he feels is obvious, "And we're more likely to break up."

There's a pessimism in his tone that causes her to look at him in disbelief as she pushes herself up off the sofa. "And what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

He angles his body so that he's facing her completely. "You know what it means, Mindy. We both know our history. It was hard enough getting you to give us a chance in the first place; I want us to work and if we can't agree—"

"We can compromise," Mindy says, sitting down beside him.

"Yeah, except when you put your foot down."

"And then you will just have to live with my decision." She pats him on the knee.

After a few minutes of silence, Drake asks, frowning, "Will you ever let me wear the pants in this relationship?"

She thinks it over, a playful grin appearing, "Perhaps on holidays and special occasions."

Mindy's hand is trailing up Drake's leg. Her seduction techniques, not that they needed much work to begin with, are starting to rival his own. Sometimes, when Mindy looks at him and touches him, he can't for the life of him figure out how Josh managed to control himself around Mindy for all of these years. Drake doesn't know what hormones are affecting her sex drive or if it's years of pent up of sexual frustration but he's totally okay with helping her satisfy whatever desire she's experiencing.

Mindy stops moving her hand abruptly, grabbing his hand and placing it on her abdomen, explaining, "The baby's moving."

His face brightens as he feels the sensations under his hand. It's only been about a week since he first felt the baby move and he's still in awe each time he does. The baby's getting bigger and stronger, making its presence known. That's his kid, alright.

Mindy reaches up and brushes her fingers over Drake's bangs before dropping her hand so that it rests over his. "Still upset with me?"

"No," Drake says quietly, his hand following the baby's movement to the other side of her stomach.

"I'll tell you what, if in a few years we have married and we decide to have another child, we will find out its sex as soon as we can."

He raises both of his eyebrows, "You'd marry me again?"

She didn't mean to bring up the subject of marriage because it's really not a topic she's ready to discuss, not since all the years she and Josh spent talking, hinting, dreaming, and planning their own wedding have come to suddenly amount to nothing.

She tells herself that this is different, and it is. "Hypothetically, in a year or two's time, depending on how we feel about each other, if love is part of the equation, I might be open to legally marrying you for the first time."

_ Drake and Mindy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Drake with the baby carriage…._

_**First**__ comes love_.

Not in their case.

Mindy shakes her head then clears her throat. "But we are getting ahead of ourselves."

"Are we?" Drake laces his fingers through Mindy's. "Technically, we _were_ married."

"Technically, yes; legally—for all real intents and purposes, we were not." She snorts, "I threw my ring away right after I left the courthouse."

Drake shrugs, "I tossed mine _before_ I left the courthouse." It's a bit delayed when he says, "The make-up sex should be awesome." She raises an eyebrow; he amends his statement, "Not that the sex isn't already awesome because it is. It's just…make-up sex will be even more awesome."

She decides not to comment, instead rising once again. "I'm going to bed, if you'd care to join me."

He doesn't need to be prompted twice. A little later, spooning in her bed, Drake points out that they're going to need a bigger bed.

"I thought you liked having an excuse to cuddle," she says, her fingers drawing small, light lines on his forearm.

Why can't they just be like this? Now, always and forever. It doesn't have to change, this evolution of animosity, lust, friendship, parenthood, and love, after the baby's born (or before then—_please not before then_)—does it?

Drake squeezes Mindy tighter for a few seconds. "I'm not trying to get away from you but I like having room to move around. My bed's not really big enough for two and a half either." He pauses before asking solemnly, "You don't think that we're moving too fast, do you?"

She turns in his arms to face him, looking a little annoyed. "You are not seriously asking me that, are?"

"A little?"

"After all of your pushing, _now_ you think—"

"_I_ don't think that we're moving too fast. I'm asking if this is too fast for you. Buying furniture is a big step after all," he jokes.

She narrows her eyes at him, jabbing him in the chest with a finger, "You know there are still times when I don't like you that much."

"Yeah, but you lo—" _Love me_. The words die on Drake's tongue as he catches himself and there's a stillness in the air around them. She has yet to verbally imply, let alone declare, that she is falling in love with him or that it's even a near possibility. She's still vague when it comes to discussing her feelings for him despite her open acknowledgment of their present and the very real possibilities of their future together. Drake can only wonder if any of the girls he's dated, the criers, the ones who were so enamored with him, were just waiting for him to toss them an emotional bone to ease the tension of their heartstrings. He knows that Mindy's not indifferent as he was; like he said, they know each other's history—with each other and with other people.

Mindy gives him a quick kiss, anything to change the atmosphere. She can't tell him that she loves him or that there are things that she loves about him. Not yet. She wants to but she can't because he started this, with all of his feelings and wanting to be with her. She responds to him. She cannot, she will not say that she loves him—she's not even sure that she does yet—she can't say that she can love him because she remembers his rescinded admission. He hasn't said it since, that he thinks or know that he loves her. And maybe it's too much to expect or ask for that one of them be so sure of their thoughts and emotions this early in their relationship except that everything is moving at warp speed and there is no way that they can slow things down. They're having a baby and moving in together and now they've kind of started talking about marriage.

What the hell are they doing?

What in the world have they gotten themselves into?


	2. Underneath It All

**Note:** The beginning is a little rough and I do apologize for that but hopefully it's not too bad.

* * *

><p>Drake and Mindy meet with a realtor and they go on walkthroughs of apartments and houses. The realtor does her best to sell them on getting a house, because as a young couple starting a family, they're going to need plenty of room to grow. Are they sure that only want to look at places with two bedrooms? They repeat that they're just interested in renting a home for the time being but agree to look houses with convertible dens.<p>

They've got their list narrowed down to their top three choices and they need to make a decision soon because they want to get moved in before Drake starts touring and they still have to pick out a bedroom suite. The previous realtor that they had met has come down with pneumonia and they have to settle with a middle-aged woman who recently divorced her third husband and is taking her second husband, or 'the cheap deadbeat SOB,' back to court for child support.

When she discovers that Drake and Mindy are not married nor do they have plans to tie the knot in the near future, she encourages them to leave their relationship as is—if it ain't broke, don't fix it; besides, people get comfortable and become neglectful. At one point, the embittered realtor even pulls Mindy aside, advising her to have paternity test done as soon as possible so that if her and Drake's relationship does crash and burn, she can have proof that the 'squirrely prick' is the baby's father when he tries to weasel his way out of paying for private school and braces. It's more than a little off-putting and Mindy questions whether the woman is in the right career. The realtor responds that today's showings are her last ever, she's going into banking.

Despite the negativity of the replacement realtor turned banker, they return to the original realtor after she recuperates and sign the lease on a house. Mindy insists on being present while Drake packs his belongings so that she can veto any items that will not have any place in their life together. "Anything that even whispers 'twelve year old boy' you can ask your mother to keep in the attic."

"But, Mindy—"

She silences him with a look, eyebrow raised.

He pouts, rolling up a poster that will be going in a box destined for the attic.

She opens his dresser and neatly refolds the items of clothing before placing them in a plastic tub. The boxes of items going with them to the house are emptier that the boxes of items to be donated, thrown away, or stored. It's his childhood and adolescence that are being packed away and pushed aside. It's another reminder of how very different he and Mindy are; he can't think of a single item in her apartment that looks like it belongs in a juvenile's bedroom.

"There's really not much that I can bring, is there?" Drake asks, sounding forlorn.

"Well, you definitely can't bring these," she says tersely, holding up a stack of dirty magazines she found tucked underneath his boxers.

Drake looks embarrassed. "I thought I'd already thrown those away."

"Sure you did." She tosses the magazines into the trash bag sitting near the door. The bag is nearly full, so she ties the flaps together, "I'm going to take this out."

"It's not heavy, is it?"

"No, Drake." She makes a show of easily lifting the bag. "See?"

Drake begins going through the desk drawers. There's a pile of photographs from when they were high school shoved in the back of the top drawer; they're mostly pictures Josh and Mindy or all three of them, Josh always in the middle, acting as a tether, trying to bring them together. There are a handful of pictures of Drake and Mindy, rarely looking at each other, a noticeable physical distance between them. They're all pictures that Drake's seen before except two: one is a candid shot from Helen's wedding outside of The Premiere. It's a shot of Josh and Mindy, his arms wrapped around her waist as he smiles, his lips close to her ear as if he's just finished whispering some cheesy sweet nothing, and she's grinning, head slightly tilted, eyes cast downward and her hands holding his arms around her. On the back of the photograph, printed in Josh's handwriting, is: _August 3, 2007 – Helen & Buzz's wedding. Realized that I was in love with Mindy._

The other picture is from Spring Break of their senior year and Drake can't recall ever seeing it before. He remembers the trip well enough be not the moment captured and he knows that Josh must have taken the picture but he doesn't know why he's never seen it before now. They were at the beach, Drake building a sandcastle, Mindy lounging in a beach chair, book in her hands, sunglasses hiding her eyes. Her head isn't angled down like she's looking at her book, it's almost like she peering through the darkened lenses in Drake's direction, her face completely unreadable.

Drake flips through the photos again, trying to figure out why they're in the desk, loose, instead of secured and protected in one of Josh's photo albums. He tries to think like Josh and it hits him: Josh has been searching through the past, through memories, for a sign; looking for any foreshadowing of this future or hints that there was always more between Drake and Mindy in the past. Drake doesn't see anything in the pictures, other than the blissful and giddy ignorance of youth. If he knew then what he knows now—there's nothing that he could change. He wouldn't change anything.

"I hope you're not looking at pictures of other girls; I haven't been gone that long." She's joking, mostly, but there's a biting undertone, courtesy of her hormones.

Drake turns, holding the photos out to her, "They're pictures of you, me, and Josh."

She takes the stack and begins looking through them. She's clearly more affected by them than he was, her mouth curves into a sad nostalgic smile. She can't see or feel the hate that bonded her and Drake for all those years but it's obvious in each frozen moment that they weren't best friends. They're going to have to make new memories and take photographs to document this life that they're living and building together. Just in case they ever need proof that this really happened, that they really happened.

Mindy sets the stack of photos down on the desk. There are so many feelings tied to those photographs, some of the memories are brilliantly sharp in her mind, and part of her wishes that she could decipher some hint in the photographs that she and Drake would become so much more to each other. She feels like it would be easier to just let herself fall wholly in love with him if there were some visible or tangible way to track their progress from enemies to friends and lovers. "We're moving on."

Drake's not sure if she's referring to reminiscing over the photos or their relationship so he just resumes sorting through the desk. The stack of photos keeps catching his eye, compelling him. He stops and walks over to the loft his bed sits on, reaches under the mattress and pulls out a large manila envelope. He gives it to Mindy, only saying, "I only looked at it once. Right after I found it in my room."

She gives him a quizzical look as she opens the envelope. She pulls out an 8x10-color photograph and her breath catches in the back of her throat at the sight of it. It's a moment that still eludes them both, a picture snapped just seconds after they were married in Vegas. Confetti's suspended in the air above and around them, neither of them looking at the camera but at each other _and it's right there_. Mindy will mark it as being in that look, _that's_ exactly where they began, under bright lights surrounded by gaudiness and other people—not a short time later in the dimly lit privacy of Drake's hotel room during consummation or the conception of their child.

How long has he cared? "Why did you keep this?"

He shrugs, "I dunno. I think that at first I just thought that one day you'd tell Josh about what happened, he wouldn't believe it but I'd have this picture and after he got over the shock, we'd all just laugh about it. We can throw it out."

"No. We can get a frame and put it in our room. That way, nobody sees it and starts asking questions."

"Yeah, it'll be hard to explain why we didn't just come clean about the marriage and annulment when we told Josh about the baby."

"Exactly." Mindy carefully slides the photo back into the envelope. "And, maybe in time, after everything has settled and everyone has come to terms with what has transpired, we can tell our families."

He looks surprised, and hopeful. "Do you mean that?"

She smiles at him, "Of course, silly." She places the envelop in the box labeled 'House – Bedroom.'

* * *

><p>They only have one week in their new home together before Drake's tour begins.<p>

Drake calls her after his first concert as she's reading in bed, waiting for his call. _"It was amazing! They knew every word to every song! Even the ones from the new album!"_

"That's great!" She does her best not to let him hear how much she hates that he's not there with her. It's only one night, the first night, but it feels wrong, him not being there with her. Maybe it's the words of that awful realtor still nagging at her. She's tells herself that as rational as it was in the past, it's irrational for her to worry about him remaining faithful. He's done nothing but prove time and time again that he has no intentions of jeopardizing his relationship with her or their child.

_"I wish you were here."_

"Me too." She can feel tiny feet kicking her and adds, "We miss you."

_"I miss you too, both of you."_

Mindy can hear excited chatter growing louder in the background, sounds of the band, sounds of fans, shouting Drake's name and for him to hurry up. _"_Sounds like you're in high demand."

_"Yeah, everybody wants a piece of me."_ She can hear the cocky grin in his voice and she can see it in her head.

"They can keep on wanting, as long as nobody's getting a piece of you."

She can hear someone yelling for Drake to get off the phone already, something about an after party.

He sighs. _"I should let you go so that you can get some sleep."_

She doesn't like his choice of words, 'let you go.' "Don't have too much fun. Don't do anything that you know I won't approve of."

_"So, no having fun? Check."_

"Funny, Drake. You know what I mean."

_"I know. And don't worry. You know that I—you know how I feel about you."_

"I do." She hesitates. She knew what he meant, what he was about to say. They're taking such small steps compared to the giant leaps they've already made. But they are steps in the right direction. This is going to work; they are going to work. This could turn into forever, she wants it to be forever and she can almost hear herself telling him that she loves him. "I feel the same way about you."

She can hear him smiling through the phone. _"Goodnight, Mindy. I'll see you tomorrow."_

"Goodnight, Drake."

It's the first night in weeks that he hasn't been with her, that she hasn't felt him beside her. It's the first time she's slept—_tried_ to sleep—in their new bed, in their new home, alone. The bed and the house seem larger than they should be and empty without him. Mindy tosses and turns for about an hour trying to relax and get comfortable to no avail. She gets up and makes herself a cup of tea. She rifles through an unpacked box of random knickknacks and other assorted items. She comes across Drake's first album, still in the original plastic. She unwraps the CD and places it in the stereo. She settles on the sofa with her tea as the music starts. It really isn't suiting her tastes but it is Drake's music and she promised him that she'd give it a chance so she listens. And she falls asleep.


	3. A King's Ransom in Dimes

**A/N:** Sorry it's taken so long to update. I have not forgotten about this fic. It's giving me a heap of trouble but I want to finish it and I work on it when I can. If you're still interested in this fic and reading it, I hope you enjoy this update. Not sure it was worth the wait but after months of trying to get this part written, it's done.

**.**

_Well I'm so far away_

_That each step that I take is on my way home_

_A king's ransom in dimes I'd given each night_

_Just to see through this payphone_

_Still I run out of time or it's hard to get through_

_Till the bird on the wire flies me back to you_

_I'll just close my eyes and whisper,_

_Baby, blind love is true_

- "Bed of Roses" by Bon Jovi

(Seriously, if you don't know this song, you need to listen to it. And fall in love with it.)

.

* * *

><p>.<p>

The first few times that Drake returns home during the tour, Mindy welcomes him back as if he'd been gone for months instead of for a night or two. He doesn't mind in the slightest. He loves performing, he loves the adoration of his fans, but coming home to Mindy and her ever-expanding stomach fills him with a joy he's never known.

When it's time for him to go back on the road and he's heading out the door, she walks him out and tugs his hand, bringing him back to her, giving him one last kiss, for the road. She leans against the doorframe, one hand resting on her abdomen and gives him a small smile, waving until the tour bus disappears from sight.

Drake watches her from the window. He hates leaving her, he hates that she can't go with him. It scares him. He loves Mindy, he's _in_ love with her and it scares the hell out of him. It scares him because he's pretty damn sure that she feels it just as strongly as he does, even if she hasn't said anything. There are these moments when he looks in her eyes and he can see it as plain as day that she loves him. She has to or they wouldn't be together. If she doesn't…it just can't be possible that they've come this far in such a short time and that she doesn't love him at least a little.

God, he loves her. He loves her and their unborn child. He loves this life that they're starting together. He loves everything that they are and everything he wants them to be.

.

* * *

><p>.<p>

Mindy falls into the habit of listening to Drake's CDs on the nights when he is gone. The sound of his voice helps her feel not so alone and it lulls her to sleep; it also calms the baby who seems to be missing its father almost as much as she is. They talk on the phone every night when he is on the road. The words "I love you" always rest right there on the tip of her tongue, ready to roll off.

"I miss you."

_"I miss you, too."_ There's some commotion and laughter in the background.

"Drake?"

_"I gotta go. I'll see you soon."_

Mindy frowns, placing a hand on her stomach. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight. Have a safe trip."

_"Night, Mindy."_

He hangs up, kind of abruptly, and Mindy is hit by a hormonal tidal wave and she bursts into tears. He's been touring and on the road for a little over a month now – sure, he's only away for a night or two at a time, but he's still gone – and this is the first time he's ever been in a rush to get off the phone with her. Normally she has to remind him that she does have to go to work in the morning or one of the guys in the band or a roadie has to get him off the phone. Tonight it was as if he couldn't get off of the phone with her fast enough.

Mindy sobs for a good ten minutes before she starts to calm down until her brain starts leaping to conclusions. It has always been only a matter of time before he grew tired of her and remembered that there were plenty of women throwing themselves at him regardless of relationship status or the fact that he is about to become a father.

Her sadness gives way to anger at the thought that Drake is off with another woman when she is hundreds of miles away, carrying his child, loving him in spite of her better judgment and every bit of rationality she possess.

She starts to think that she should have stayed with Josh or that she should have stayed single until after the baby's birth. She knew better than to give in to her hormones and the feelings, no matter how intense, that Drake stirred within her. She knew better that to let Drake into her arms, her heart, and her home with his charm, his smile, and his promises. She knew better than entertain fanciful thoughts of romance, childish hate turned to true love everlasting, and dreams built on clouds and sand.

"Bastard," Mindy snarls at the framed photo from the Las Vegas chapel. She stomps into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. Usually she would pop one of Drake's albums into the stereo right about now so that she could start winding down and go to sleep. But she is so furious with him. How could he? How _dare_ he? Oh, just wait until he gets back. He will experience a hell unlike any he had ever known or imagined.

Oh, she is going to—

"Hey, baby."

Mindy nearly drops her teacup when she hears Drake's voice behind her. She spins around and there he is, standing in the doorway, smiling at her. He hadn't even been gone forty-eight hours but the horrible thoughts, the unrestrained doubts and fears, that had been running through her mind for the past half hour have separated her from him further than the actual miles and hours had.

Relief, surprise, and happiness wash over her (guilt misting around her) and Mindy smiles and runs over to Drake, her lips landing on his as his arms wrap around her and his lifts her slightly off of the ground.

"What are you doing home?"

He cocks and eyebrows and pouts playfully. "You want me to leave?"

"Of course not but I just talked to you and you were on the road."

He grins, shrugs, and tosses his hair, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I said that I'd see you soon."

"I thought you meant maybe in the morning. I thought..." She confesses that she had begun to fear that he was going wind up in another woman's arms, in another woman's bed.

He sounds as wounded as he looks as he takes a step back from her. "Mindy... I would never. You know how committed I am to you and the baby. You both mean the world to me. I would never do anything to jeopardize what we have. I mean, as long as it took us to get together –"

"I know, Drake, but I'm me and you're you and as much as we have both changed, we're still the same. I'm sorry that I doubted you."

He kisses her. "I'm not going to mess this up. I won't throw this, us, away – not for anyone or anything."

Mindy nods. She resumes making her tea. She and Drake sit down on the sofa. Drake rests his head on her lap, his ear pressed against her stomach, listening to the beating of her heart and the baby's heart. He sings to her stomach, to the baby, and the baby turns over and kicks gently. Drake grins and laughs, feeling the light pressure against his head. Mindy combs her fingers through his hair, smiling, and he presses a kiss to her belly.

The fear is still there, as well as the doubts. It's foolish for Mindy to heed them yet it isn't. She knows that Drake has changed and is still changing. She believes him; she believes _in_ him. But none of that changes who he was and who he still is.

Mindy winces as a tiny foot slams against her kidney.

Drake sits up and looks at her, concerned. "Are you okay? Is it the baby?"

She rubs her side. "Yeah, no, we're fine. Your child is either ramping up to be a kick-boxer or a champion soccer player."

Drake leans back over, rubbing her stomach, "Hey, take it easy on your mom. When she gets cranky she takes it out on me."

Mindy gently slaps him on the shoulder, glaring at him, a slight smile on her lips.

Drake sits back up quickly and kisses her, pulling her close to him. He rests his forehead against hers, and Mindy's heart skips a beat and the baby settles down.

She feels…she feels loved and she feels hope and she tries to push her anxieties aside, far away, deep down inside. She just wants to love him. She just wants to let him love her.


End file.
